. >>> president obama is back home in the u.s. he was in israel, the west bank, and jordan. >>> secretary of state john kerry remains in the middle east including meeting with benjamin netanyahu. he urged iraqi leaders to overcome sectarian that threatens the stability. let's go to kristen welker. what is the president saying about the trip to the middle east? how are they characterizing this trip? >> reporter: hi, alex. officials believe he set out to do. he also reaffirmed the united states' commitment to the israeli people. the israeli people were skeptical about that prior to the trip. and then there was an unexpected diplomatic victory where president obama, through arm twisting, convinced netanyahu to call turkey and apologize for a deadly raid against a turkish ship. that will be key in moving forward with issues like syria and tries to reopen the peace process in the middle east. so i think white house officials are feeling good about the trip. the big question, if you talk to experts in the region, is what is president ob